Adrien's eyes darted to each of the animated objects, mouth agape; but Val only giggled in response. He turned again to the kitchenware. "Hello, everyone", he said. "How are you?".

A discordance of "Good!", "Yes, good!", and "Very good!" rose from each pot and pan and cooking implement. One pan moved closer: "And how are you, Val?", it said with a small, squeaky voice.

"I'm alright. Thank you", Val replied, bowing his head slightly. He gestured to Adrien: "Everyone, there is someone I would like you to meet... This is Adrien. He's my apprentice".

The kitchenware replied with another cacophony of "Oh!", "Hello!", and "Hello, Adrien!" - and this time, Adrien couldn't help but chuckle too.

"What is an apprentice?", a wooden spoon said as it tilted on one side in puzzlement.

Val giggled softly. "An apprentice is... someone who is learning from a master. In his case, he's learning magic from me".

"Oh! I understand!", was the cheerful reply.